I wake up this morning. Everything seems normal. For a few short minutes, life doesn't suck. Just a few minutes later, my dad tells me that my computer is dead.

OK, let's rewind for a second.

A few days ago, I stupidly downloaded the new Go! Team record off of some remote MP3 site. Things seemed normal for a little while, but the next day, the computer was glitchy, and now this happens. My computer is still not functioning, and there's a good chance my entire hard drive has been wiped. (20 gigabytes of music, countless comedy scripts, my cartoons... ) What horrible bastard loads up sites with viruses just for the hell of it? Cost for a new OS? $150-$200.

But that's not all. While we were attempting to fix my PC, my dad's computer dies for no apparent reason. We were able to get it working again, but who knows if/when it will happen again.

After taking a look around for a product key number on our computer, we found it, and were able to set up the computer again from scratch. The best part? The vast majority of my files are still intact! There is no firewall on it, however, so it's open to all kinds of viruses at this point.

After taking a look around for a product key number on our computer, we found it, and were able to set up the computer again from scratch. The best part? The vast majority of my files are still intact! There is no firewall on it, however, so it's open to all kinds of viruses at this point.

But still...

Saved $150? Check.

Files are still available? Check.

I think this horrible story had a happy ending.

At least there was some silver lining.

When something's wrong with your computer, it's one of the scariest feelings in the world. I can still remember water hitting my old badass laptop and smelling the smoke coming out...

My computer is totally virus-infested now. It's time to get serious and do a clean install. Of course, I'll have to stock up on flash drives and get my important files out of there, but it'll be worth it.

Dunno about where you are but there is a 500GB external hard drive going for £65 here which is about $130. I fancy one....and will think about it if i ever fill my remaining 200GB of available space. I hate clogging up my hard drives